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With the help of a west coast plastic surgeon I bet.
“Trey, still the flirt I see,” she said, gushing.
“Caroline,” Trey said, pulling me close to him and turning to me, “I’d like to introduce you to Tylar Preston, who’s agreed to be my wife.”
I could see a hint of surprise cross her otherwise impassive face. She held her long, thin hand out to me with a forced smile. “Tylar, welcome to the family,” she said without sincerity. “Susan has told me so much about you already,” she commented with an underlying tone that I couldn’t identify.
“Caroline, it’s good to meet you. Trey’s spoken of you as well.”
I saw a glint of irritation cross her tight unwrinkled face. Trey squeezed my hand and when I looked at him I saw a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Trey, I see you’re saving the best for last,” a familiar smooth and silky voice said. The voice didn’t come from Trey; it was Tristan who spoke up, moving closer to us, his eyes locked on mine. My stomach did a bit of a flip-flop and I wasn’t sure why.
“Tristan,” Trey greeted his brother warmly, grabbing his hand and slapping him on the back. Tristan turned his attention to me, his emerald green eyes flickering over me.
“So this is Tylar,” he purred, taking my hand and raising it delicately to his full lips.
Oh wow! It runs in the family!
Trey was unfazed. Perhaps this was Tristan’s way with all women.
“Youareexquisite,” Tristan breathed, not taking his eyes from mine, “but then my younger brother has a penchant for exquisite women.”
His comment made me uncomfortable and struck me as confusing; I decided to file it away for future reference. “Tristan, I'm pleased to meet you,” I replied, pulling my hand from his finally, finding Trey’s hand beside me and locking mine into it. Tristan threw his head back, seeming to laugh heartily at my discomfort. “You better watch her, Trey,” he said, “She’ll turn heads I can see that now.”
Trey looked down at me, smiling. “There’s only one head she’s interested in turning big brother,” he replied, “and that’s mine.”
“Touché,” Tristan replied, locking his gaze upon me.
Susan had the servants bring out some eggnog, wine, and brandy. Trey fetched me a sparkling water. Everyone filled their respective cups or glasses with the spirit of their choice. I noticed that both Trey and Tristan chose brandy; Caroline drank white wine; Clive, Susan, and Nigel sipped eggnog.
Clive stood with his cup of eggnog raised to toast, “To having all of my family here and healthy for this very special Christmas; to welcome our soon-to-be new family member, Tylar, who already feels like a daughter to Susan and me. Welcome Tylar, and Merry Christmas everyone!”
“Here, here,” Tristan said, raising his glass of brandy, and clinking it with everyone else’s in the circle, one by one. As he got to my sparkling water, he clinked my glass, winking and taking a drink of his brandy his green eyes locking once again with mine.
“To family,” he whispered.
CHAPTER 50
We sat down to an elegant Christmas Eve dinner. The staff had prepared a beautiful crown roast of pork with apple-cranberry stuffing, truffled twice-baked potatoes, asparagus casserole, and glazed carrots. Susan served Trey’s chocolate pie for dessert.
Caroline picked at her food, commenting that she tried to avoid pork in her diet at all costs. I looked over as Tristan rolled his eyes at her statement, and then flashed a smile at me when he realized he'd been caught. After dinner, the family retired to the living room and reclined on the sofas near the Christmas tree. Trey pulled me next to him, his arm relaxed over my shoulders. Clive poured after-dinner brandy for everyone and he brought me a sparkling water.
“Tylar, I see that you don’t imbibe,” Tristan commented, lounging on the armrest of the opposite sofa, sipping his brandy.
“Well...” I stammered, unsure if Trey was ready to tell everyone. Trey interjected on my behalf.
“Everyone,” he said, “now is as good a time as any to share our wonderful news.” Trey pulled a Cartier ring box from his pants pocket. He turned to me and held it open, his eyes beaming with love. “Tylar has agreed to be my bride. Though I’d marry her this minute, my fiancée has stipulated that we wait until after the birth of our child in May.”
Caroline’s shocked gasp from across the room was quickly drowned out by the sound of happy applause and congratulations. I froze in a temporary state of panic, not generally accustomed to having all eyes on me.
“Tylar,” Trey said softly, bringing me out of my daze, “do you accept this ring as a token of my love and promise of our engagement to be married?”
“Oh Trey,” I cried joyfully, “you know that I do.” I lifted the ring out of the box. An emerald-cut diamond sat atop a platinum band, dancing with color. There was a baguette ruby, my birthstone, on each side of the enormous diamond.
Trey proudly slid the ring onto my finger, giving me a sweet kiss on my lips. I threw my arms around his neck, tears streaming down my face.
Susan rushed to my side, taking my hand to admire the ring. “We’re sure happy that you’re going to officially be a member of the family, Tylar, but I’ve got to tell you something, you already feel like a daughter to us!” I hugged her tightly, catching the sour expression on Caroline’s face. She was the only person who'd not done anything but gasp at the news. Was she more shocked by the engagement or the baby?
